Attorney defends Cleveland couple that took girl from CPS

By Cindy Horswell

Updated 9:57 am, Thursday, May 10, 2012

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Devon Davis

Devon Davis

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Mike Davis the father of 2 1/2 year-old Devon Davis, walks outside his home as law enforcement officers and volunteers search for her son after he went missing Tuesday, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, in Cleveland.
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Mike Davis the father of 2 1/2 year-old Devon Davis, walks outside his home as law enforcement officers and volunteers search for her son after he went missing Tuesday, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, in Cleveland. ... more

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Liberty County Sheriff Department officers speak with April Davis right the mother of 2 1/2 year-old Devon Davis outside her home as law enforcement officers and volunteers search for her son after he went missing Tuesday, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, in Cleveland. less

Liberty County Sheriff Department officers speak with April Davis right the mother of 2 1/2 year-old Devon Davis outside her home as law enforcement officers and volunteers search for her son after he went ... more

Photo: Houston Chronicle

Attorney defends Cleveland couple that took girl from CPS

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Mike and April Davis, whose missing son was discovered drowned in a Liberty County pond about five weeks ago, broke no laws when they snatched their 18-month-old daughter from a foster home to escape what they call Child Protective Service "bullying" and to make a fresh start outside of Texas, their attorney said Wednesday.

Child Protective Services spokeswoman Gwen Carter, however, noted both parents had signed a voluntary agreement - called a "parental child safety plan" - to allow their daughter, Abbygail, to be placed in temporary foster care while the family was assessed and received help for problems the parents disclosed.

"The Davises were very open and acknowledged some problems to us. These went beyond some concerns that we already had ... such as child supervision," Carter said, declining to elaborate because of privacy issues.

The parents' attorney, Chris Branson, was aware of only two other concerns. One was about allegations of domestic abuse when the family lived in Virginia and the other their history with that state's child protection agency.

"The two domestic abuse concerns involved some pretty loud arguments in which neighbors called police but nothing came of it," Branson said.

"And the Virginia CPS history involved several bogus calls regarding drugs that were later attributed to harassment by another family member and closed."

Parents coerced?

Carter said the state was concerned about other issues the family had disclosed.

But Branson contends his clients were coerced into putting their daughter into foster care after their son, Devon, was found floating in an algae covered pond near the home where they were living in Sam Houston Lake Estates. "They intimidated them," he said. "If they didn't agree to the temporary care, then they said they would take them to court to forcibly remove their daughter."

Carter insisted the parents understood and had expressed a "willingness to work with us."

The Davis family had moved to Texas about a week before their son vanished. They were living with a U.S. Army buddy who'd helped Mike Davis find a job.

April Davis told authorities she was home alone with the children when her son vanished.

She reported putting the children down for a nap, locking the door, dozing for 20 minutes, then awakening to find him gone.

Hundreds of volunteers and officers spent the next five days searching for Devon, until a drone helicopter spotted his body.

Branson said the parents have been unable to properly grieve for their son because of their battle with CPS.

The couple lost their patience Tuesday night when they barged into the foster home near Cleveland and took their daughter, Branson said.

"Nobody was physical, but the Davises' actions were intimidating, making it clear to the foster family to get out of the way and don't mess with them," said Liberty County sheriff's investigator Rex Evans, who had initially received a report of a child kidnapping.

'Little girl was fine'

Evans said he learned the parents were not legally bound to the civil agreement.

"I telephoned the parents on their cell, and they agreed to meet me in Woodville to let me see the child was OK," Evans said. "The little girl was fine, laughing and giggling. Her parents were not impaired in anyway.

They said they just wanted to go back home after this horrible disaster."

Branson said his clients complied with everything CPS requested until caseworkers said they wanted to assess them for another six months. "Abbygail had been examined by a doctor who found no abuse, and the parents had passed drug tests and spent $600 child-proofing their Texas home," he said. CPS officials, meanwhile, are trying to contact the Davis family.